Earlier this summer the HH and I went to a big box store to buy some light bulbs and grass seed. We were in the queue waiting to check out when I noticed the store had a newly installed self checkout line. So, rather than wait impatiently for 7 minutes while the cashier rang up the bags of potting soil and pallet carts full of plants the people in front of us had, I zipped on over to the self checkout, rang up our stuff myself, and was out the door in less than 30 seconds.
And as I walked out to the car, there was a bit of satisfaction in that moment. It was an efficient way to shop. I didn’t have to wait in line. I was able to zip in and out of the store without having to make meaningless chit chat. I mean grocery stores have been using this set up for years now, most checkout lines are staffed with cashiers, but there are few self checkout lines sprinkled in.
In the car on the way to our next stop, the HH and I started talking about the whole idea behind the self checkout line. He argued self checkout lines take away jobs, can’t answer questions customers might have, and are just cold and make stores feel more like a warehouse with products inside them rather than a place where you feel good about looking around and having your questions answered {by someone with actual knowledge of the product}. Human contact. That’s what the stores these days are attempting to eliminate.
There’s a reason why you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you buy something from your local hardware store rather than a big box store with a self checkout line.
So while my husband saw the whole experience in a negative light, I only noticed the efficiency part.
That was until we were back at the big box store to buy something else a few days ago and noticed that with the exception of 2 checkout lines in the lumber/contractors department and the customer service desk, EVERY SINGLE previously staffed checkout line was GONE.
GONE.
And in their place? Self checkout lines.
I couldn’t believe it.
And that’s when it hit me.
A store manned with 90% self checkout lines, rather than humans, is not cool. Seriously, not cool. So from here on out, I will happily stand in a line staffed with a cashier. Even if it takes a little longer.
~Mavis
P.S. What’s your whole take on the cashier vs self checkout debate? Curious minds want to know.
Ray White says
When I get to a checkout line my only interest is in getting out of the store as quickly as possible. In fact, I find it irritating if the line goes slowly because of a chatty cashier. I use self checkout whenever possible. Ever increasing automation is a fact of life and with new minimum wage laws replacing people with machines will keep happening.
Bonnie Belknap says
I’m late to this conversation, but I know people that are adamantly against self checkout.
Personally, I love it. I’m very task oriented, and I find that I checkout much faster than any paid checker. If the checkers worked faster, I would be all for it. But they don’t.
They’re extremely slow, and their process is wrong. I bag my groceries as I go, putting the heavy items in the bottom. The checkers move it all to one side and then if there’s no bagger, they bag as a separate job.
If people need social interaction, retail is a very poor choice.
Jenny Young says
I sometimes cannot bag & carry my groceries….so is that. Who will do it if it’s all self check out?
And I thought I was paying for someone to bag my groceries? I’m not getting a discount to bag my own?
But the more I use self checkouts the easier they are. I don’t think they should get rid of cashiers altogether.
On another note…grocery pick up has become so popular in my area that when I do my early morning shopping at Walmart the aisles are packed with Walmart employees pushing big blue carts & filling pick up orders. I’ve wondered if in a few years I will look strange choosing my own produce among all the towering blue carts in the store.
Cathy says
Yup, I agree with your husband , I’d like help and that someone cares I have drove to the store to buy hardware or clothes , shoes , car parts, And such.
So buy local.
Our Library went to self check out
Cindi says
I have occasionally resorted to self checkout when I’m in a big hurry and only have a couple items. But in principal, I hate them. My husband refuses to use them at all. I stand and wait to be checked out.
Sharon says
Hate them as well, and concur with your husband – and I work for a company that developed the automation (at least on the factory level). Of course in a retail environment, management could make more people available to answer questions, but that doesn’t seem to happen.
Jennifer says
Absolutely despise them. If I’m checking out and bagging my own groceries, I want the employee discount. So, I wait in line. We live in a vacation destination and our local grocery store gets crazy in the Summer. Recently, our Kroger underwent a “remodel” and took almost all the lanes out and put in self check out. Sometimes the lanes are backed down the aisles to ring groceries up! It’s crazy. I hate it, if I have a problem with anything you have to wait and the check your own groceries are so sensitive, that there is always.a.problem. Ugh.
Karen says
There are so few people seeking jobs that it is difficult to hire workers. I traveled through 6 states last week and a “help wanted” sign was displayed at almost every business. We haven’t experienced such high levels of employment in decades. Businesses have to automate to function. How many “full service” gas stations have you seen.
Lisa says
I bet most of those help wanted places are only looking to fill part time positions. If you need a job, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, but if you need a job to provide for your family, cobbling together several part time jobs is hardly ideal. Not to mention, no benefits like health care or sick pay. If you have kids and one of them is sick and too young to stay at home alone, you have to lose a day’s work. Not cool.
Amanda says
I use the self checkouts. I work as a manager at a grocery store and usually do my shopping on the way home, and the very idea of having to deal with even more strangers while I wait in line is more than I can bear. We don’t have any self checkouts at my store, but it is absolutely tiny and hasn’t been updated much since it was built in the early 80s.
Also, with the minimum wage increase you are going to see more and more automation everywhere. The week after the minimum wage law passed in my state, long before the first wage increase was scheduled to hit, hours were cut, citing the increase. I imagine in three or four years the bulk of retail jobs are going to be automated, with a few very overworked humans over the whole store.
In fact I may not have a job in a few years. The local grocery chain I work for is meeting in two weeks to decide if they are going to keep our store open, switch it to an alternate store format where six employees can run the entire store all the time, or just close it altogether and rent it out. At this stage the building is probably more valuable as a rental than it is as a grocery store, given the amount of money it is going to take to bring it up to modern standards, and how much it costs to pay even a part time employee.
I want to support local businesses,because I work for one, but I have seen enough of what goes on behind closed doors that I understand the necessity of having to adapt to the new technology. Like it or not, human labor is being priced out of the market at the retail level.
Lynn Y says
I prefer a human with the groceries. However, there is one place I love, love, LOVE the self-checkout: the library. At almost every library I’ve gone to, the employee will comment on one of the books I’m checking out and that makes me uncomfortable. I find reading to be a strange extension of my personality and so I find it a bit like a stranger asking me personal questions. It’s odd. However, it is even more odd when they pick up the book to scan it and then look up at me with a strange look. I don’t have strange reading habits, but I might be researching something that they find strange. Needless to say, I must have been one of the first patrons to totally embrace the self-check at the library.
Self-checks also don’t ask strange questions like when an employee asked me with a bunched up nose “What is that yellow stuff all over your arm?” to which I happily replied “Pollen! I’m on my way home from my community garden plot.”
Judy says
As a former librarian, we did NOT comment on patrons’ books. Very rude.
Gigi says
We moved 5 years ago and the newly expanded library did not include self checkout that our previously library had. I hate it. I want self checkout at the library. My kids loved doing it themselves. It sounds mean, but when a few retire soon, I hope they put in kiosks and allow the checkout librarians to do something more stimulating than scan bar codes for hours.
Deborah says
I’ve never used the self-checkout. And won’t. I’ve seen others use it and always have to have a curtesy clerk help them.
Lisa Millar says
Was just having a lively conversation with my sister about this. She loves them. I hate them.
They are refurbishing the local supermarket and installing them. Ugh… I manage to muff them up every time I try to use them anyway and still have to wait for help… then I am irritated by the time I leave. (Patience not my strong suit)
Plus – I have this feeling of why am I doing the job that someone was getting paid to do? For free?
I like someone who knows what they are doing (ie trained) to do as I have no desire to spend my time working out each shops methods of checking out retail sales methods. Lazy? Maybe. lol
And I DO like saying hello to the cashiers and maybe asking a question etc.
Anyway, thats the way most of the big retailers are going around here.
Cc says
I can honestly say that I love self checkouts. I was glad when my other go to grocery store put some in. I don’t mind not chatting with the cashier who seems in a bad mood, who has nothing to say & who has a cold & is coughing into their hands & bagging my stuff at the same time. Also, I spent a lot of years shopping at commissary, which is the grocery store on a military base & they had baggers that worked for tips only. it was a hit or miss with who bagged & took my stuff out for me & put it in my vehicle, either someone who liked chit chat or someone that didn’t & it was mostly the latter. I personally don’t like forced chatter too so it was very uncomfortable dealing with someone ringing me up, then dealing with the bagger putting my stuff in my car, then I had to tip them & most of the time they looked at you after you tip them like your giving them pennies. & not only that but if I requested that I didn’t need someone taking my stuff out for me, a look was passed from cashier to bagger & everything was even more uncomfortable. I felt that I had no choice, let someone bag your stuff, take it out for you, then you have to pay them to do it. So yea, I’d rather use the self check out lane any day.
Geri says
I have never used self check out and I never will. I have seen self serve checkouts take longer than the cashier line I am waiting in.
Employee- position is eliminated and obviously their pay cheque and benefits.
Customer- self serve eliminates PAID labour. You the PAYING customer become the UNPAID cashier! Where is your wage, benefits and discount?
Company- Increased thier profits by not having to pay wages, benefits, employee discounts, uniforms, work social functions etc. More importantly the company increases profits by reducing thier liability risk for every eliminated employee.
Marti says
I refuse to use self checkout at the grocery store. I also go through the line that will bag my groceries. I feel that I am paying for that service so I might as well use it. Our baggers are many times older retired citizens or sometimes special needs people. I’m thankful that they are able to have jobs so I do my part to help them out.
Jennifer Bouknight says
I will wait in a self checkout line even if there are plenty of cashiers available. I like to bag my items my way, skip the chit chat and get out. If I had questions, I wouldn’t wait until I was in line to ask them. Our WM has 32 registers and 24 are self checkout. There is often a line and the cashiers have to come out and drag people to their registers because no one will willingly go.
I also think this may be an age/sex thing. I think younger people and women appreciate it more than older people and men. Fwiw, I am probably the same age as you, if not a little older.
Michelle says
I’m with you! I like my stuff bagged MY way and I don’t go to socialize!
Miriam says
I love self-checkout lanes. I can be checked out in minutes rather than waiting for a slow cashier or someone getting cigarettes. I don’t have to make small talk. I don’t have to pretend like I want to talk to the cashier.
To answer one complaint above: I was once paid as a cashier. They don’t train you that well. Bagging requires very little skill, but customers can be very finicky about how *they* like their groceries bagged, even if you are following the general guidelines.
Everything automated was once a job that someone was paid to do. Textiles is a good example. Tradesmen used to create knit and weave textiles for expensive prices (because it takes time and skill to make cloth). When the machines came around, they put many people out of business because they simply couldn’t match the machine. Today, we have <$5 shirts sold at Walmart. Practically anyone can afford a new shirt today. It's simply what automation does: makes things cheaper for the majority in sacrifice for some jobs.
– see automated farming equipment, roombas, food creation, textiles, assembly lines, etc.
Katie says
I go through them if I have just one or two items, am in a hurry, and the check out lines are pretty stuffed. But usually I don’t like them. I don’t like when card readers and screens beep at me and mess up or when it tells me to take the last item off the bagging area and put it back yada yada yada. I like that a cashier can do all of that mess for me and faster. I’m not usually chatty, but having someone to say hi to is nice.
Jennifer G says
It really depends on how many items I’m check out with. If a smaller amount I have no problem with self-checkout, with a large amount I prefer a checkout person. One thing I do notice using self-check is that if the is a discrepancy between the price I thought I was paying and what the computer is coming up with, I’m more likely to catch it. None of the groceries in our small mid-west area have gone to self-check yet, and at this point that doesn’t appeal to me.
Suzanne Shaw says
Mavis, my husband and I have the SAME debate! I’m for efficiency – but he works at Stop & Shop and knows what is going on with big business and jobs. Your post absolutely scared me STRAIGHT into promising myself to never use a self check-out again.
samantha Fisher says
On this topic, I’ve also noticed that our grocery stores are doing the same thing with our deli department. Instead of talking to the Deli guy on how much sandwich meat you want, they have a small cooler with already sliced meat for the convenience of grab and go. I love that! 🙂 I’m an introvert and just want to get in and get out without having to talk to people.
Katelyn says
Yes, Samantha! Me too! Our local grocery chain had a deli kiosk where you could use a touchscreen to order your meats/cheeses, and it would give you an approximate time your “order” would be ready for “pick up”. So if there was a long line, you could get more shopping done around the store and swing back to pick up your order number when it was finished. however, the kiosk malfunctioned and is now sitting in the entrance of the store, still broken, about a year later.
Amy says
I left a large cart full of merchandise at Target bc they would not open a staffed checkout lane. I had several large items, was using their cartwheel discount and a gift card. I was so irritated. I’m not paying the same price to sweat over ringing my stuff, when the store will not provide adequate staff. I know the employees had to put my cart away, but Target didn’t get my money either
Marlena says
I like and use both. I like the self check out for being able to bag my own groceries because I am a lot more careful with how I pack a bag, i.e. I won’t put canned goods into a bag with soft produce. On the other hand, if I have a lot to check out I like to have someone who knows what they are doing and will move a little faster. I also have favorite checkout people I like to say hi to.
Self check outs should be available but not take over!
Becky-TN says
This is a hard one, Mavis. Too many emotions and it’s more complicated than we think creating a web. Can there be a balance….some self-checkouts and some staffed registers…giving the customer/consumer the choice?
Corporations work to provide a service/product, etc.. for profits (and for shareholders). But remember, those corporations also provide jobs to people along with stocks/mutual funds that many of us (if we have retirement accounts/investments) may hold in those accounts which effects us also. Thus one type of spiraling web.
I get concerned about our society continuing to limit itself with community interaction. I’m with trying to save time and money, but….for what purpose?. I ask myself, am I using Kroger Order and PickUp because I’m short on time. If so, why am I short on time? And is the response I tell myself really a good reason..for my family, for my health, for my spirit…Yet, another web.
Kim says
Self service lines infuriate my husband. He sees it as cuts to save money for the store, but the customer doesn’t ever see the costs cut to them.
I only ever use them b/c I get tired of Kroger (especially) having tons of people in the store and only one NON self-check line open. It’s like I have no choice…….unless I have 20 minutes to burn.
Where is customer service?
Traci says
I had never thought about the negative impact of self checkout on employees. Usually that is what I use but I think from now on, I’ll try to mostly use the regular lanes. Thank you for giving me something to think about this morning!
Diana says
Read the book Homo Deus if you really want to get into thoughts on where we are headed with automation and technology. Self checkout is not going away, it is the new norm and not something that will change.
Laura says
I’ve always felt that since we’re paying prices which include a percentage to pay the cashiers their wages, why would I want to bag my own groceries when nobody is paying me or my husband to do so. People need jobs, it is their responsibility to check out each customer and bag their groceries, and they work hard, so I’m not in favor of eliminating them just for the sake of 5 minutes saved, tops.
Cathi says
I hate self service. I don’t work at whatever the store is and I’m not going to do someone’s job.
Yes, it can be a bit slower but when there’s a problem there’s already a staff member to help, I don’t have to wait until the one clerk for 8 stations can get to me.
I dislike stores that ask me to bag my own stuff too. I avoid them as well. Again, I don’t get paid by the store, why should I work there?
Noelle says
I too dislike having a chat with the cashier. However the self-checkout lines do take away jobs. So if the lines are long because there are not enough cashiers we need to make the store acknowledge the self-checkout does not make good customer services. Also I would never discuss a problem/issue with a cashier. There job is to check out groceries. If you have a question find someone else or go to customer service.
Connie says
I rarely use them because I feel it is taking away someone’s job. I also noticed in some of the big box stores they have discontinued employing greeters. I feel it’s a shame. I liked being welcomed into the store and whenever I asked where something was located, they were always very helpful.
Elise says
I never, ever use self checkout. Would not buy the product before stealing another humans right to work just for my perceived “convenience” and the illusion of a speedy check out.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I tried the self-checkouts when Kroger started them 20+ years ago. I was ready to embrace the technology. But, nothing ever went right. I became so frustrated that I refused to go there when employees offered them so I would not have to stand in line.
When WM introduced them, I was needing an electric cart by that time. I cannot hang onto the cart with left hand and try to reach the buttons and bags and such. I was told someone would help me. A snippy young man said that is not my job. You have to do it. I just help when something goes wrong. So, I never went back to those. I just stayed in line. Finally, someone told me that I should get full help at the self checkout. Only then did I go back to self checkout.
However, as far as conversation with a checker? You have to be kidding. They have customers stopping by and other employees to talk with. They demand to know why I cannot lift a gallon of milk because, you know, a gallon of milk is not that heavy! I get tired of explaining myself to people I would not normally give the time of day.
At any rate, I prefer not using the self checkout for many reasons.
Heather says
8.6 lbs is what a gallon of milk weighs.
Carol at Lake Tapps says
I use both ways depending on how many items I have. I shop at WinCo where you have to bag your own and I like packing my groceries in my reusable bags…packing them ‘my way’ (cold items in one, produce in another, etc). Our local Kroger still has a lot of cashiers, so you have the choice to use a self-checkout lane…unless you have too many items. Self-checkout is the wave of the future now that most people use debit/credit cards. Scan, swipe and go. I’ve gotten behind people writing actual checks recently – omg it takes them forever…esp with a chatty cashier! And as with anything being automated, the loss of human jobs go hand in hand. That’s life.
Katy says
I noticed the same thing and I hate it. There should be at least a few manned check outs. I’m not on the store staff, I shouldn’t be doing the work.
Deborah McGeary says
It takes away jobs. There are fewer jobs that people who need to start in the work place can do, they are all being automated. I work at a department store, and I’m sure that is where the next round of self check will begin. The
only problem with that (for the company) is how they will get people to sign up for their credit cards. We have one
lady who is really good at it.
I often go to a grocery after work (10:00 pm) and usually the only thing that is open is self -check, so i have no choice.
Several fast food places have kisoks to order food inside, but I refuse to use them, and I order from a person.
Honeybee says
I refuse to get in self check out line. If the store is saving money by not having a cashier they should pass the savings on to me.
debbie in alaska says
self check out all the way. I actually don’t like to be social when I am running errands. I want to be efficient. If I’m in a small country store, or little shop, I welcome the exchange and small talk but I also am not trying to be efficient when I go to those places. As for Home Depot — I’d prefer the help while I am shopping and trying to figure out what I need but not when I am checking out. Lastly, at my Fred Meyer self check-out there is also someone standing there to help with any issues that any of the self-check out people may have and we always have a friendly exchange.
Lynda Kling says
I end up cursing at the self check out machines that make issues out of nothing..no thanks.
Michele from Oregon says
Totally agree with your husband!! Self checkout seems to point to robotics. Don’t you wonder where the checkers you saw previously have gone? I feel like a machine when I’ve tried the self checkout.
Debi says
I saw a statement that said, “Self checkouts should give an employee discount”. And that is how I feel about self checkout registers.
Amelia Scherer says
Agree – if the customer does the work then there should be a benefit. I agree with your hubby – we are losing too many jobs that someone without a college education can get.
Diana says
I only use self checkouts. If I have any questions, I ask employees in the departments. The cashiers won’t have the answers, anyway. I like the efficiency of getting in and out and not having to make chat. I also like to do multiple purchases using various forms of payment (I shop for myself and neighbors). I would hold up a full check out line for several minutes and piss off a lot of people, lol.
There will always be a few checkouts that have cashiers – especially during the holidays and during the normally busy times of the store. They use a lot of reporting to determine when their largest sales are and try to time their employees to be there during those times – and I know this because I used to help out with scheduling in one of those big box stores. 🙂
If you think about it, what is online buying but a big self checkout experience?
Mrs. M says
Online– they deliver it to my house. I don’t have to scan items, load them in the bags, load them in the car, and unload the car. After perusing an online site and adding items to my cart, I can simply answer the door a few days later and retrieve my box of goodies. 😉
Tammy says
I am with hubby for the same reasons. I’d rather have a person who wants a job. Also… I do not believe in giving any store my check out and bagging skills for FREE! Haha
Lolly says
My dh loves self checkout. Yet he is usually at a store for 1-4 items. He doesn’t do big shopping trips. When *I* am at the store, I have a buggy FULL of stuff. So I stand in one of the 1-2 lines open….along with a large line of people…to get checked out. I once did the self checkout with a ton of stuff….and waiting in line for a person would’ve been faster….they go faster than I do. And then there’s this: stores don’t give me a discount or pay me to do the job of a cashier….so why should I have to do that job? I notice the people in line with me are pretty aggravated about the 1-2 lines open with real people. Usually they have full buggies, like me, or are age 50+ and they deem themselves as “too old to figure out that self checkout”.
My fave store is a small, local grocery store. The same people have worked there for yrs and yrs. They smile at me. They greet me. If they are in the aisle, loading the shelves, they move so I can get what I need. They small talk with me. And every durn time I buy a bag of cinnamon raisin bagels, whomever is checking me out says, “Oh, these smell soooo good.” Every time. Lol. I believe they prolly have a pretty good manager, because they seem contented at working there, and happy to ring people up. Oh, and while small, they always have at least 4 registers open (out of 6…so 2/3 of their registers), not 2 registers like at walmart.
Lana P says
Lolly,
Curious about where the local store you shop in is located?
It sounds like the store I work in, right down to the 6 registers.
I always tell people the store is like a big city store with a small town attitude.
Lolly says
We’re in the middle of nowhere, Alabama. Lol. We have about 14,000 people in town. The store is called Grocery Outlet. There are other ones around, but idk if they are all affiliated or not?
I also love the Piggly Wiggly in a bigger town nearby….they are super friendly….but it’s a 40 min drive from home, so I only go when we’re already down that way. (And it’s not the same at other Piggly Wigglys…..the one I like has an amazing manager!! He’s forever bagging groceries and pushing people’s carts for them! His service for others is contagious among his employees.)
Alot of people like shopping at Publix, but I don’t have the $$ to pay 3x’s as much for food.
Kipper says
I’ve not had good luck with self checkout. Mostly because of the feeling of being rushed, even though I don’t dilly dally, then invariably the item won’t scan or I make an error and have to get a clerk to help. Also, I love all of the clerks at the local grocery(except for the bossy special snowflake assistant manager who is disrespectful in public to her coworkers-I never go to her register if she is cashiering) . The other employees are fast, friendly and don’t chitchat. I want them to keep their jobs and not be replaced by more self checkout stands.
sandy F says
I was a project manager for a nationwide automated point of sale system for a federal govt agency (USPS). We had to deal with the perception of “you are taking away jobs”. But it was easy to prove quite the contrary. It actually creates jobs. Nationwide and local Trainers, tech support, a help desk with many employees, a maintenance team, the team of contractors that build the check out systems, I could go on and on. Besides the fact-we would not stay in business if we didn’t change with technology and advancement. So-we protected and saved jobs that we were in danger of losing.
Like it or not-to keep up with on Line retailers, workers working from home, demand from public, amazon etc. If we want to retain brick and mortar stores, we have to provide what the public asks for. The buyers are getting younger and don’t have time to wait in line and want to keep moving!
The project took 10 years to complete, and is still creating and providing jobs. Who could have ever imagine debit cards, docu -sign, taking a photo of a check to deposit in your bank account…technology is fascinating. I love it-and will use self check outs every time.
Samantha Surovec says
Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the new jobs created by automating checkouts are filled by non-college graduates, part-time working mothers, retirees looking to get out of the house or 16 year olds looking for their first job? These people (which includes me) wouldn’t be able to travel to do this corporate training, don’t have the skills to do tech support or machine maintenance, or the specific temperence to work a help desk. Not to mention, when the out of town contractors that built the system leave town, that job is one and done. I’m not convinced this is really good for all. Also, how can we explain doing our own checkout at the same store that now pulls our lists and delivers them to our homes?
Gigi says
I agree more jobs are created. Right now I see so many help wanted signs and fast food are offering $12+/hr in the Chicagoland. There are other opportunities for unskilled labor besides retail that pay better. With all the online shopping, more warehouse distribution and delivery options have opened up. Also some of those jobs that are eliminated send the employ to be reskilled at a community college. Remember college educated does not mean 4 years. I teach electricians who earn a 2-year AAS and are making $80k+ 2 years out of school.
Samantha says
My husband and I have the same conversation. He thinks they take away jobs. I try not to use them. He adamantly will not. I want someone to ring my groceries and bag. I am finding lately that stores no longer seem to be teaching their baggers how to bag though…as in bottle of wine on top of the lettuce….urgh! I will use them when I have no choice but to stop at Wal Mart. They have never had enough check out lines available. My time is much too valuable to be spent waiting in a Wal Mart check out line!
Mrs. M says
First of all Mavis, you have the BEST followers! It’s so fun to read your blog AND the reader’s thoughts!
When produce shopping I prefer self-checkout because too many cashiers treat my high dollar avocados like a bag of bouncy tennis balls… dropping them into the sack! Same with other produce. However, if I have a cart full, it’s usually worth standing in line for a cashier.
At home improvement stores, even if we are in self-checkout (they’ve “updated” and don’t have many cashiers anymore), a cashier almost always comes over and does it for us anyway.
At Sam’s Warehouse, I prefer self-checkout because of the produce reason, but always have to wait for help if I purchase alcoholic beverages… so that’s frustrating.
By far, the best customer service in our area, is at United Supermarkets! (They also have Amigos and MarketStreet stores.) They always have plenty of lines open, they have a sacker who sacks AND carries your groceries out, and instead of self-checkout, they have staffed express lanes that are truly super-fast (Instead of waiting for one cashier to help everyone in the self-checkout lines who has a problem.)
Businesses should look at how they’re able to provide such excellent customer service and replicate their model!
Lynda Kling says
Unless I get an employee discount for doing the work at a self checkout line, I’ll wait for a cashier. And that discount is NOT going to happen….
Laurie says
I do not use self checkouts because for the exact reasons you had stated. I also dislike them because I feel as if I am now an unpaid employee of the store. They have trained the customers to do all the work and management doesn’t have to pay them or give them benefits.
Amanda says
I love self-checkouts and am fine with more of them appearing. I agree that they’re taking the human part out… but wouldn’t it be better if the stores put the human part back into the store itself? I don’t want to chat or get help while I already have all my stuff and am checking out, I want them in the aisles (especially at a hardware store) where I can get answers to questions I may have!
Laura says
Your husband is right. I’ve worked in grocery stores for over 30 years and it’s a way to reduce costs. But it’s always at the expense of the employees. You can hire people for part time work and then don’t have to offer benefits. But I have noticed that the stores only have one check stand open so you have to use the self checkouts.
Veronica says
Ever tried to use self checkout with 4 young kids “helping”? That’s one of the main reasons I don’t use them.
Beth says
I was recently shopping at the local Fred Meyer, using a regular checkout with a real cashier. I asked her about the self checkouts as they keep putting in more of them and she said that Fred Meyer actually will increase the employees hours if the self registers are higher in use and decrease them if they don’t get used. Trying to encourage the cashiers to have more people use the self checkouts. I thought that was really weird.
I have noticed that while there are less actual cashiers there are more employees shopping for the e commerce side ( where people order online and pickup in store) .
Marie Beers says
My local Wal-mart has more self-checkout lines than ones with people. One day the store was crowed and only 2 cashiers were open, the people started yelling “open more registers”. I use the self-checkout when I have a small order, but when my cart is full and some of the items are heavy I wait in line.
Nancy D says
I enjoy both methods mostly depending on the line length. We have a Safeway where many of the checkers have been at the store over 30 years and are wonderful people. However, when I am shopping with my elderly mother who uses an electric cart we use the self check out. It’s easier to manouver the cart in the wider aisle and she likes to help. Our Fred Meyer recently went from 8 self check out stations to 22. Times are changing!
athena says
For the most part I agree with your husband, they take away jobs. My husband prefers to use them though because he can get in and out quickly. At Albertsons we use it because it shows the discounts from their ad and in-store coupons as you go whereas in a regular checkout it all comes off at the end and we’ve had several items ring up wrong that we then had to go back in about. We also use them at the commissary on base because we don’t always have cash and the baggers only work on tips. So if we don’t have cash we’ll use self-checkout so that we don’t feel like we are stiffing the baggers. When we have cash we use a regular line.
CherylV says
I’ll do self check out if I only have a few things, but like someone above said…talking back to the machine is usually involved.
A lot of times, I do the bulk of my shopping after work, I am tired, I want to go home but I am NOT doing a self check out with a full buggy as then I will still be tired, but sweaty too. For the most part, I prefer someone else doing the work of checking me out. I am off work, I don’t want to think anymore.
I don’t mind the bagging as I can bag as I would put things up in the kitchen. And I don’t put 8 water bottles in one bag thereby breaking blood vessels in my fingers when I try to pick it up. The young men don’t seem to even think about the weight of a bag, just shove it all in there!
kat says
Remember when they actually TRAINED baggers how and what to put in the bag? Who puts a pie in the bag on its side? Tomatoes and potatoes together? Yeah, both are produce, but come on.
Rebekah says
I’d be happy to use self checkouts every time if they would use the payroll savings to place more clerks on the salesfloor. The stores would be better stocked, cleaner and I suspect there would be less opportunity for kids to tamper with the ice cream
Holly Whiteside says
Leading world economists are extremely concerned about the robot and A.I. revolutions and what it will mean to employment and the distribution of wealth. They don’t know how to solve this problem. We are already for many reasons drifting rapidly towards a smaller fraction of society controlling most of the world’s wealth. Currently, the bottom 90% of the population in the U.S. possess only 23% of the wealth (according to equitablegrowth.org )
There are other issues connected to this. The “global economy” means that we usually don’t know the conditions in which our products and foods are made. Our electricity sometimes comes as the result of the top of a mountain being literally taken off to mine coal. Often the clothes we wear uses slave or even child slave labor where the kids live separately, sometimes in a different country, than the parents. Food we eat may contain traces of the very chemicals we have banned from U.S. agriculture, or, may have been produced by clearing rain forest or creating toxic rivers, lakes, and coastline.
For these reasons and more, I’m hopping on the local economy movement. When I can, I’m buying products from local or at least U.S. producers, particularly from small farmers or businesses. It is more transparent, and they are unlikely to have a self serve check out. Of course, we don’t always have a choice. Sometimes for light bulbs our only choice is imported. And sometimes things will cost more, but I’m beginning to think that isn’t a bad thing because of the value we get for buying locally produced. Think… if we do what we can, we send a message to companies what we are looking for: fair pay and safe working conditions; local employment, lower environmental impact; less plastic packaging or no packaging at all; quality products and food, not more cheap crap, energy waste and trash! With these large box stores… we just have no idea where things are coming from, and nothing is personal or local. As I try to teach my kids: we vote in an election about once a year, but we vote with our dollars every day!
kat says
They should have both and those checkers not on a register should be out on the floor answering questions in those big box stores. I can never find anyone to answer my question and I WILL NOT walk back up to the register to be pointed in the direction of the item so I can walk back again. OR… have some kid tell me he doesn’t know. And yet has a phone on his hip and could CALL SOMEONE who does.
I am a senior with mobility issues and if I have to walk back to the register, I will continue right out the door NO SALE! I hope they figure this out soon. Another peeve—no price on the item, shelf or display. No price—item stays on the shelf–NO SALE.
Lace Faerie says
I prefer to use a human cashier. I want to make sure management sees them busy and needed.
I was once the faceless service worker (waitress) and hated it when no one would look me in the eye or acknowledge my greeting.
Does it really cost that much time and effort to remember those are our fellow mankind? I see appreciation in their eyes when they realize I’m actually making eye contact, greeting them in return and always appreciate it when I answer their ‘have a good day’ with “I shall, I hope your work day flies by!”
If you want to know what I hate about markets is when they make the lines to the cashier into narrow cattle chutes with racks of merchandise. I am claustrophobic and will not get trapped, unable to go forward or back up unless several people move. I told that to Kmart back when they were in business, they said too bad so I took my business elsewhere. I have also brought it to the attention of a smaller grocery store in our area and stopped going there when asking for an open side in the cashier line or wider isles the manager asked me if I was joking, right? Wrong, now I don’t shop there either.
Rebecca says
You can’t really say they take away jobs. Companies pay millions to have these solutions developed and tested. The jobs have shifted from cashier to technician or IT developer, but that’s the way everything is going.